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The elevator doors open, but we don’t move. Andrei stops in his tracks, holding his arm out and stopping me from getting out. “Viktor. Take a closer look and then come back.”
Viktor uses the key card to hold the elevator. Bowing his head, he steps out quickly and grabs a suitcase as if he’s on an errand. He returns, and the doors swiftly close.
“What did you see?” asks Andrei.
“They flashed the lights again, but whoever it is, they’re still in the car.” Viktor pauses. “I could only see men in the car.”
“They’re waiting for us to walk into a trap.” Swearing, Andrei looks at me, and I know what he’s going to say. I shake my head, not wanting to hear it. “Viktor. Take Paige back up to the room and wait.”
I lunge at him as if I’m going to attack him. “No, Andrei. She’s out there.”
He grips me hard. “Paige, it’s a trap.”
I don’t care if the others are watching me break down. I’ll run out there and fall at Talia’s feet, begging for my little sister. I reach out and hold onto Andrei’s jacket, ready to plead that he not take this foolish risk. I can’t lose everything.
“We both know Emma is not in that car,” Andrei insists. “Talia’s fooled us, Paige.”
I shake my head harder and grip tighter. “Call her. Demand to know where Emma is, but don’t walk into her trap.”
The elevator doors open on our floor, and Andrei hesitates. It must be obvious by now that we know something is wrong. Andrei steps out of the elevator, and we hurry back to the room. He won’t listen to me. He’ll lock me in the bathroom and then head out to face Talia without me. I stumble down the hallway, his hand firmly on my upper arm. My pleas are ignored until I break away. Dmitri catches hold of me before I can run.
“Paige, we have to do it my way,” says Andrei. “You have to be somewhere safe.”
He opens the doors of the room, and I only have just enough time to stop before I’m knocked to the floor. Andrei lies over me as his gun comes out of the jacket.
The patio doors shatter in a rapid blast of bullets, sending glass in all directions.
Talia’s men came looking for us. But Viktor saw men waiting in the SUV.
Somehow, I make it back out into the hallway. Stumbling down the hall to the elevator, one of my shoes is gone, and Andrei is behind me, shouting orders as Dmitri covers our rear.
A man rounds the corner in front of us, and I let out a scream, foolishly giving us away. But I sag with relief against the wall when I recognize Yari.
“The men in the SUV?” asks Andrei.
“They tried to drive away.” Yari looks at me. “The girl wasn’t there. We checked the trunk to be sure. They’ve surrounded the hotel. We step outside and they take a shot.”
“Where’s Natasha?” Andrei asks.
“She’s in the woods with her men,” he answers. “They’re maneuvering behind them.”
We don’t get back onto the elevator. Instead, we hurry down the fire stairs. My instincts come back to me as I kick off my other shoe so I can run for my life. Viktor uses his passkey to let us into the basement, but something is blocking the exit door to go outside.
The men push against the door until it finally moves, and a dead body rolls out of the way. Dmitri rolls up the sleeves on the man’s forearms and inspects the tattoos.
“No Karamazov tattoos,” he says.
“I know him!” Viktor looks down at the corpse, and his face lights up in recognition. “He was with Gleb Novikov at the party.”
***
I look out the window of the Rover as Yari drives us back to the mansion. Andrei holds my hand, and his thumb strokes my knuckles. They talk among themselves, reviewing what happened, saying things I’d rather not hear. The air outside is heavy, and fog covers the road. I wonder if it has rained or if it will. I can’t tell. And I don’t really care. I try to focus on something other than my raw disappointment.
Where is Emma? I try not to blame myself again, but it’s useless. I hate myself for fucking up her life. I think about Talia’s basement with its dark, damp cells. I wonder if she’s in one—cold and hungry. I sniff a little too loudly, and Andrei squeezes my hand.
I know he’s trying to comfort me, but it only makes me feel worse. I don’t deserve any kindness when my sister is in trouble. Trouble that I caused. I wanted to trade places with her because my guilt is worse than any pain.
“You’re deep in thought,” Andrei whispers to me while the others continue to talk.
